Chinese consumers flock to foreign brands on Alibaba platforms, providing a bright spot amid bleak Singles’ Day shopping festival
- A total of 82 brands, including Nike, P&G and North Face, each reported over US$13.8 million in sales on November 1, according to data provided by Alibaba
- However, pre-orders on Alibaba’s Tmall for the last week of October were flat year on year, according to research firm YipitData
Chinese consumers, who have curbed spending amid the country’s strict Covid-19 controls, are still keen to grab online bargains from trusted foreign brands, providing a rare bright spot in a lacklustre Singles’ Day shopping festival this year.
The branded stores on Tmall, a key e-commerce platform of Alibaba Group Holding, acquired more than 66 million new “members”, a label given to loyal customers, during the pre-sales period starting October 24, according to data released by Alibaba.
A total of 82 brands, including US sports apparel giant Nike, US personal care group P&G, and outdoor gear producer North Face, each reported over 100 million yuan (US$13.8 million) in “member generated” sales on November 1, according to selected data provided by the Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant.
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During the first sales window, 750 overseas brands on Tmall Global achieved more than 100 per cent year on year growth in gross merchandise value (GMV). Of the overseas brands on Tmall Global that were new to the China market, 300 exceeded 1 million yuan in GMV, and 20 surpassed 10 million yuan in GMV.
Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, has not released the overall sales on its Tmall and Taobao platforms. Alibaba, which is facing fierce competition from other platforms, weakened consumer demand and regulatory scrutiny, stopped disclosing overall Singles’ Day sales data last year.
The figure, which has been seen as a barometer on the health of China’s e-commerce industry, was likely withheld because it does not paint a rosy picture.
Meanwhile, third-party data showed a bleak picture for the Singles’ Day shopping season. Pre-orders on Tmall for the last week of October were flat year on year, according to research firm YipitData. The number of merchants taking part in presales dropped 18 per cent from a year ago, the firm said.
A representative for Belgian brand Loop Earplugs, which entered the mainland China market in May via Alibaba’s Tmall Global, said the “first wave was a little below expectations, but not that bad”.
“We were mainly surprised by how much the sales fluctuated,” said Arne Van Craeyevelt, global expansion manager for the company. “After the first wave we went from almost 300 sales a day to 50 a day. In other markets, the seasonality of shopping festivals have a less pronounced impact on the daily sales.”
Loop Earplugs also plans to sell on other platforms in China, such as Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and Xiaohongshu, China’s answer to Instagram.
Rebecka Strömberg at Swedish brand Maria Nila said Singles’ Day sales did not meet its target but the company was “overall happy” with the results. “We had set a very ambitious target this year, as we had understood that this was one of the biggest [events] during the year,” Strömberg said.
Daniel Zhang Yong, chairman and CEO of Alibaba, said in a statement on Monday that digital commerce offered an “unprecedented opportunity for global SMEs to tap into the vitality of China’s consumer sector and for Chinese SMEs to expand to new markets globally”.
